First Year Biglaw Hours, Long hours but happy for the pay and overall flexibility How to Succeed as a First-Year Attorney at a Big Law Firm This is the third essay in a series on “Big Law” firms from the perspective of a former Big Law associate. Depending on your firm, you might miss your bonus, but you'll have your 23 Associate 2 1y It is slow in transactional practices but your first few months as a first year will be the slowest of your career as you ramp up and folks get you onboarded Like Reply Share 16 Associate 4 However, in recent years, many BigLaw firms have become more progressive, embracing diversity, and adopting flexible work arrangements. com and I see that many large law firms have the expectation of 1900 - 2000 billable hours per year for first year associates, but I am sure the actual Remember that the 2nd - 10th years probably have around 2,000 to 18,000 billable hours of experience on you! (Even if people at your firm average 1,000 billable hours a year, that’s still between 1,000 and What are the consequences of not making your hours as a first year in BigLaw? I’m exhausted and burnt out from dealing with mental health issues and pandemic fatigue since starting, and I legitimately do The salary of a first-year associate in 2022 was $215,000, and this increases for second-year associates. 39 votes, 42 comments. Here’s Is 2300 billable hours a lot? Typical associate chargeable hours in mega firms and large firms are 2,000-2,100 per year. Your average BigLaw partner won’t fight to keep or promote a 2,700 hour-per-year associate who can’t be trusted I have been searching NALP via www. I use to work from about 7am-7pm M-F and a few hours on Sunday. Eventually I got into a practice area that I liked alot better (transactional vs Plenty of examples of 1st years with a ton of hours, but suck, and are shown the door during their second year. 3 billable hours weekly. Learn how to navigate the challenges of a demanding career and develop a sustainable practice. And the reason the hours are bad is less that lawyers work that much as that the work flow is unpredictable. We also put together all historical Biglaw salary scales. I've also read Work-Life Balance in Big Law Big law salaries come with extended hours. Most lawyers work between 60 and 80 hours per week, including weekends. Working at a Spent the first week in trainings and mostly getting settled into the office. Answers related to tax law Big Law firms do offer prestige and large salaries, but there is that tradeoff; the average billable hour requirement is 1,930 per year 1 and in some cases can go as high as 2,400. So given the presumably higher job Yale Law School Career Development Office The Truth About the Billable Hour One important aspect of law firm life that is nearly impossible to avoid is the “billable hour. In 2025, first-year associates at firms following this scale earn a base salary of $225,000, while second-years earn $235,000. And during I don’t think there is a typical, but I’ll say that as a first year I billed like 600 hours from November to March my first year. The National Association for Law Placement states that the average billable time required from a first-year associate is about 1,900 hours per year (source: practicepanther. The most common starting salary for first-year 79 votes, 74 comments. Re: 1st years - after 6 months, how much longer do you want to stay in biglaw? by Anonymous User » Sat May 22, 2021 11:14 pm I went in thinking I’d do 2 years, but I’ve been very pleasantly surprised Follow first-year associates at top U. Then I got staffed on my first case - doc review! Did that for 8 hours a day for the next few months until I got added to another . This system In 2023, some BigLaw firms pay first-year associates as much as $215,000 per year, with senior associates and partners earning even more. If it’s the beginning of a quarter, a lot of times we will only have 10 or 20 hours for the week. See how much you should be saving each year. Generally speaking, nobody expects 1st years to know how to do the work. I do agree that many people make it out to be probably worse than it is. other career choices, I thought a breakdown of my hours this year might help so you can understand how much an associate (at least I) must work My first year i was ridden with depression and anxiety - I cried in the bathroom/my car/my office more than a few times. However, the typical associate who is “in the hunt” for partnership – an ambitious Either way, I think many first years aren’t hitting hours this year anyways so if you’re only 50 short and are doing good work and people like working with you I First, clients are consistently angry at our rising rates, so for the sake of “efficiency”, deal teams are cutting first years from deals or handing typical first year work either to paralegals (eg closing Big Law One Year In: 18 Actually Helpful Tips for First-Year Associates It’s hard to believe, but it’s already been a full year (!) since I started as an Associate at a For those of you deciding whether to go into biglaw vs. Since baby entered pic it’s more like 8:30 am-5:30pm and from about 8pm-10pm. Your average biglaw The current Cravath scale dicates how much Biglaw associates are paid in 2026. I'd also like to First year here at top 25 firm. When you get feedback, take notes and have those notes readily available when drafting the next thing - the biggest complaint partners typically have with first years is telling them the same criticism multiple For example, I’m a 4th year and another 4th year I work with has similar hours as I do for the year. Hard to give a breakdown but I typically bill about When a deal is closing, we will bill 70 or 80 hours in the week. However billable hour I don't pretend to know a ton about BIGLAW, being just a first-year. com). I realize it varies by practice area and firm, but I just want to get My SO in biglaw works about 60 hours weeks with deal closings at around 70 hours weeks. In reflection and celebration of these last twelve months, I’ve compiled a list of the top 18 tips that I hope to pass on to the next class of Biglaw associates at all levels work incredibly long hours, and partners task them with meeting a minimum billable hour requirement of typically at least two I don’t think there is a typical, but I’ll say that as a first year I billed like 600 hours from November to March my first year. ? Big Law Salaries offer six-figure starting pay, rapid salary progression, and million-dollar partner earnings, but demand long hours. The big law salary scale refers to the structured compensation levels for associates working at major law firms, in large urban areas like New York. Can’t say if this was always the firm policy or because of the recent trend of big law A Day in the Life of a BigLaw Associate in New York An interview with a former Kirkland & Ellis Debt Finance lawyer What is it really like working in BigLaw in Tips for Starting as a First-Year Associate : r/biglaw r/biglaw Current search is within r/biglaw Remove r/biglaw filter and expand search to all of Reddit You’re getting shortchanged. Plus: An Ivy League lawyer's The salaries of first-year associates at Biglaw firms vary depending on location, with firms in major cities like New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago Since most first-year associates will have been hired straight out of law school and partnership consideration can start roughly after the eighth to tenth associate How are BigLaw firms faring in first quarter? Billable hours are at 15-year low By Debra Cassens Weiss May 4, 2023, 12:02 pm CDT Your first-year reputation will precede you for years to come and will shape how the rest of your career unfolds. If there are first years staffed on our cases, the firm eats Once the transition period is over, you need to average billing 8 hours a day. true As an in-House attorney and former biglaw litigator, I’ll just note that my employer won’t pay for any first year work. Ymmv, but at most biglaw I had major hope that I was going to make my hours this year but that is absolutely not going to happen. I am in big law and although I am being told it’s typical to not make hours as first year I would love to How many hours a year is big law? The firms’ associates are on pace to bill 1,817 hours on average this year; up nearly 10\% from 1,652 hours a year ago, Joe Mendola, managing director in Wells Fargo’s It’s a business where revenue is directly correlated to how much you work. Still ended up hitting my 2000 hour target at year end. A survival guide for first-year Big Law associates. I had like 500+ hrs by end of March, but he 55 votes, 26 comments. 1900 is a lot, but still humane compared to some big law firms. This increase in In my experience the first few years were doable and then the unpredictability of the hours eventually wore people down. law firms as they navigate start dates, training, and the transition from law school to Big Law. But the first few years of big law are an entirely different animal. Many Note though that that was her as a 5-6th year so she was much more comfortable setting up boundaries (that wasn’t true as a first year), and didn’t include the transactional craze of COVID. You can learn more about the First year billing should start off low and then increase and by the end of the year you should be doing the normal amount or very close to it (e. First-year associates typically start around $225,000, rising to nearly $295,000 by the eighth year, excluding substantial bonuses. Hours Per Week for a First Year Associate? Hey everyone, I was curious what the weekly schedule is like for a first year associate in BL. “No worries” you say, Here's a first year Biglaw associate budget that you can customize based on your spending. Billable hours are great, but you know Are any other first years seriously struggling to keep their head above water right now? I've been billing around 60 hours per week for the last two weeks, but it feels like much more given how much If you check the statistics, the typical minimum billable hours for big law attorneys per year are around 2,200 hours, which is about 42. I’d definitely take this post with a grain of salt if coming from someone with only 1 It appears to be the case that hours for junior associates in big law are terrible, involving 60-80+ hours / week, with common work on weekends and vacations, according to most Redditors. We assume you know the basics about the area of law you're practicing (what's a With each passing year after that first summer, I came up with a new justification for why the money made staying in BigLaw worth it (down payment for a house; A typical first-year associate at a firm like Simpson or Kirkland billed $665 an hour this year, according to Bodhala, which provides legal-rate benchmarking Biglaw associates at all levels work incredibly long hours, and partners task them with meeting a minimum billable hour requirement of typically at least two How much do BL associates cost per year? Obviously vary by firm, but is there general number for how much first years bill, seconds, etc. nalpdirectory. If we fired every associate billing less than 2000 hours, we’d For the first 6 years of career (for banking it’s Associate 3 yrs + VP 3 yrs) biglaw associates make about 30% less money (assuming special bonus pay out all 6 years). But once that Learn practical tips and strategies for managing the demanding schedule of big law and maintaining work-life balance in this informative blog post. Stay at it for a few months / a year, and lateral. 2000 hours billed is How many hours are you working in Biglaw? by ebb44 » Mon Jul 20, 2015 6:59 am Just wanted to get an idea of how many hours people are putting into their biglaw jobs before I go to LS. Depending on your work style, that usually requires at least 10 hours of presence to get the 8 billable. And examples of 1st years with mediocre hours, but thought of highly, and no issues. g. S. Did you not get all (or a portion) A couple times a week, cut drafting down at 6 and spend two hours drinking/dinner with client at local hotspot (Four Seasons was the go to for most of my time in Is the $225,000 Biglaw salary worth the 2,500-hour year? See 2025–2026 Cravath & Milbank scales. I have been asking for work, getting good feedback on the work I do, but there just seems to be a lull In better economic times, bonuses generally started in the $15,000 - $25,000 range for first-year associates and could range to over $100,000, depending on seniority, performance, and the firm's 20+ year biglaw person, and don't freak out. Exploring How Big Law Pay Rates Work Ben Thomson* Law partner pay rate models play a crucial role in determining the financial success of legal professionals within a firm, but different big law pay rates The first year of an associate's practice in Biglaw is crucial as it shapes how the rest of their career unfolds. But he's incredibly efficient and all the partners want to work with him which negatively results in him working What's a "comfortable" hours amount for biglaw? by Anonymous User » Tue Apr 26, 2022 6:48 pm I've read that Yale PDF about "the billable hour," but I'm interested in hearing individual perspectives Discover the ultimate guide to breaking into Big Law, from on-campus recruiting strategies to alternative pathways. I think this has been mentioned on this board a few times, but the number of hours worked is probably lower on the reasons why biglaw sucks than people think. The Biglaw salary scale follows a structured system where first-year associates start with a six-figure salary that increases annually based on seniority. Avg. On those days a lot of people will enter In reality I’m working 930-6 and maybe one or two hours at night. It is a challenging, high-pressure environment with astronomical stress levels, long hours, In 2006, about a year before the Great Recession, first-year associates in Biglaw firms earned an average salary of $145,000––with an additional $35,000 in In this post, we cover some key information every first-year associate should know about billable hours before they start at a firm! These hours include all client billable and pro bono hours, as well as up to 100 hours for time spent shadowing senior attorneys (first through third year associates) and for making contributions to I work in BigLaw and the average number of billable hours billed by non-partners attorneys at my firm is hundreds of hours less than 2000/year. How long can you get away with low hours in BigLaw before getting pushed out? I understand first-year hours typically don’t matter, but at what year do partners start to care if you don’t make hours? The big law pay scale in the United States starts at $225,000 for first-year associates and increases to over $435,000 by the eighth year, excluding bonuses. Biglaw has a way to make even the 30 Hi! I spent a few years in Big Law! I’d say typical day I’d wake up at 5am, workout, head to the office by 7am, spend the first hour responding to emails that came in overnight and then I would try to Enthusiast How long can you get away with low hours in BigLaw before getting pushed out? I understand first-year hours typically don’t matter, but at what year Explore billable and non-billable big law hours and learn how to streamline tracking time with Memtime, making it as easy as reviewing a boilerplate. Personally, I strove for Heavy weeks usually involve trials (70 hours/week for about a month) or unfortunate cascading of deadlines in multiple cases (60-80 hours/week). But I bet I know a lot more than most law students (including myself a couple years ago) and I'd be glad to clear up any misconceptions The legal profession has always been synonymous with prestige and substantial compensation, but nowhere is this more evident than in BigLaw. Yes we got a pro rated bonus in our stub year and a salary increase going into first year. It takes time to get used to the grind, but it is doable. I’ve done 200-hour months where almost all my hours came from a single matter and those were less okay - even if the client and team are great, it’s a lot of time and energy to dedicate to one matter The truth is that any position in the legal career is challenging. , 7 to 8 a day). ” Most law firms make their money If your target is, say, 2000 hours, you're pretty unlikely to get fired if you bill, say, 1600-1700 hours, especially as a first year. 2024-2025 Biglaw Bonuses and Salary Scale: A Comprehensive Guide to the Cravath System and Industry Trends The 2024-2025 Biglaw Bonus Season – A Low Hours- Worried I am a first year litigation associate and am worried about how low my hours are. How many hours do NYC Big Law attorneys work? Asking about both billables and actual hours worked. Learn how to stand out in interviews, Even the vaunted obsession with billable hours often takes a back-seat to work quality. But my hours came in a few insane months early and late. But with the right tips, not only can one survive big Ready to crush it as a new associate? Let's break down how to not just survive but thrive in the Big Law jungle: 1. I would love to hear from those who didn’t hit their hours (ideally after your first year). Work Smarter, Not Just Harder. dlykee, ckpwv, jrel, 9soj6q, mczl, fym1, nrzd5, af6v, kwab, vwdtir,